I got my 2008 Acura TL over the summer and have taken good care of it since getting it. When I moved home from school right around thanksgiving I noticed a split in my passenger side dash. I was surprised since their was no spits, cracks or fading before. Also I didn't do anything to cause it like cut it, or put pressure on it. I have cleaned the dash regularly and also use Armor All Original Protectant after cleaning, and I put a liberal amount on their. Now the split is starting to get more noticeable and I am wondering if anyone has any recommendations on how to fix it, stop it from getting worse, or covering it up. Any information is greatly appreciated. Also let me know if you had a similar issue and how you fixed it. Do '08 TLs have common issues with the dash splitting?

 

Common problem. Live with it, cover it or replace with another dash.

 

Armour All contains silicone, which dried out your dash. Don't put that on there again. However, these dashes, all dashes, new and replacement, will eventually crack. It's a combination of heat, cold, materials, weather, location, cleaning materials used, etc. It eventually happens to all these dashes. Recommend either a good quality carpet dash, complete dash replacement, or a dash cap like Coverlay.

 

every single TL dash crack started right at that exact same spot.

 

Thanks for letting me know about the Armor All, I will stop using it. Definitely going to glue up the crack so it doesn't get worse and try to fill it in best I can. I will look into getting a dash cap/cover.

 

Coverlay makes the nicest cover for about $200 other than that it's carpet style ones one amazon or eBay

 

Do you have a windshield screen for when it's parked in the sun for any length of time?

 

Unfortunately, it happens... There is no way to fix this. Sorry

 

I initially tried to fix my dash crack with a black silicone adhesive. That did not work ad made it worse because of the different expansion and contraction rates.

 

question. .is there an airbag under that part of dash that one needs to be careful about?

 

my 2005 TL also has that crack and see an outline of a rectangle.. with another main crack going towards windshield.. wondering what is under the dash.

 

that is the air bag

 

Yes I have a Genuine Dickies Universal Accordion Auto Sunshade from Walmart. It works really well for sun and heat.

 

Does that mean it will affect the airbag performance if their are cracks? Cause if so I would want to get a professional to fix that right?

 

Yeah I think ill get a Coverlay for Christmas along with other stuff for the car.

 

Cracks won't affect the airbag performance, that is where it is designed to split open to allow the airbag to escape. Coverlay is a good option and it will get you 90% better than a fully cracked dash (I installed one in my TLS a couple months ago and I am overall very happy with the result), yours still looks pretty good I might consider waiting for it to (inevitably) get worse before repairing since it isn't too bad yet. If you are mechanically inclined you can do a used or new replacement dash but they will likely crack eventually too, that is why I went the coverlay route.

 

i got my 2005 base TL in october and this was the condition of the dash:




i installed a COVERLAY dash cap and now it looks like this:




i'm very satisfied with the results and highly recommend Coverlay!

 

Went the cover lay route yesterday. I had three cracks that started about 6 months ago. 2005 with 230k on the clock

easy install and it looks 99% better. not pebble beach but way better than a carpet type cover. Don’t think anyone would know it’s a cover. Cleaned everything with alcohol a few times with a scotch pad. Wiped it clean. I used the provided silicone sealant. Holding well.

 

I have one in my attic right now, and if my dash ever cracks again, I suppose I'll put it on, but that's IF I cannot source another dash on eBay like I did last year for $230 shipped.

 

Looks much better! What were the black things in picture with all the cardboard (I think weights of some kind?). Good idea using cardboard on edges of windshield to keep the adhesive holding that part. I’m thinking of getting one of these cover lays...

 

Cover lay recommend the cardboard. The black things are roof isolator mounts for conduit runs. They work great as wheel chocks too.

I would have put the car in the garage to work but “baby” is under the cover hibernating until spring 🏎

 

Welcome to the club

 

Unfortunately this is very common on these cars. I have an 08 Type-S and am very glad my dash is intact. I protect it with a interior protectant spray and even put on a dash cover just to protect. I can't stand cracked dash and specifically looked to get a TL-S without cracked dash.

 

Yeah I had no clue that this was a problem with TLs. I took great care of my dash keeping it clean and protected, I just got unlucky. Hope you picked out a a good protectant and I hope it stays intact for a while.

 

Just got my factory dash yesterday installed, I guess i'll start my 10yr clock now lol

 

How much, and did Acura subsidize it? I read someplace they were paying a portion. My '07 TLS dash is rapidly resembling a jigsaw puzzle with all the cracks.

 

Just wanted to update, I finally got a Coverlay. The crack in the original photo got way bigger and spread across the entire dash and another one popped up just above the steering wheel. The Coverlay turned out quite nice, so thanks for the advice,